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A Short Class Presentation on Paradise Lost's Opening (Milton Journal)

Previously, it was remarked that Milton’s Greek and Latin
impaired readers’ ability to properly understand the text, as the mechanics of
those languages did not lend themselves to certain aspects of his poetry.
Whether or not this is true, I feel that his knowledge of these languages also
extends to the narrative structure of Paradise Lost, for as we shall see in the
beginning, the action starts off not only epic-ly, but egotistically.

On page 176, hughes comments via
footnote that [...]

The most
interesting surmise about Milton’s additions to his original design is the
suggestion that he added the first two books somewhere late in the process of
composing his poem in order to provide it with a standard epic beginning—a
plunge into the midst of the action at the start.

And this
certainly makes sense as the reader is indeed “plunged” into the action
headfirst; with rebel angels presented in hell moping about like petulant
teenagers who only become roused thanks to Satan’s caffeine infused voice--
forgive the unorthodox reading—we are to remember well that Milton’s tale is
universal in that it tackles all aspects of the human condition.

But, let’s
get to the actual text: after the opening invocation—more on that later— we are
plunged into Hell with Satan and Beelzebub debating their failure to overthrow
God; Beelzebub is dispirited but Satan rouses him via discourse: it is not that
they “failed”, per se, but that they were momentarily deceived by God’s hidden
powers. Now that they know, however, God’s supposed limits, they have the upper
hand, and so Satan waxes eloquently on how it is God’s fault for imbuing the
angels with envy and so it is better to rule in hell than serve in heaven.
After this, Beelzebub is cured of his pessimism, so Satan then rallies all the
other fallen angels. MEANWHILE, Pagan Gods, “demons”, from all history are
assembled (eleven in all). Naturally, this being Milton’s militant
quasi-nationalistic Protestantism, all are related as Sinfully cultured
barbarians (this occurs from page 221-224). Brought together, these demons are described
as a massed army. Satan implores them to wage a new war while Mammon, another
demon-pagan-God in Satan’s ragtag collection of misfits, leads a different
detachment to forge Pandӕmonium, Satan’s capital, from the raw materials of
hell (of which, there is evidently much to choose from). Finally, the book ends
with Satan and company holding council.

So that is the summary. Interesting?
Yes! It is everything a great yarn needs to keep you up at night, not including
the textual density. But, the most amazing thing about this book isn’t Satan,
but Milton’s opening invocation.

[read
opening invocation; lines 1-26]

<<Superficially, what is this
invocation about? How does Milton imagine the poem?>>

On one hand, it is Milton introducing Paradise Lost. One the
other hand, it is boasting Milton up as a writer, justifying Paradise Lost; an
act, which, it should be noted, was the reverse of secular medieval writers who
would often preface or end their books with a lengthy apology for the
ill-suited content and beg God forgiveness for writing in the first place. What
this tells us about Milton is that he believes in his work, as he should
considering the study he has under his belt at this point in his life. But this
also tells us that Milton is not exactly conservative. This anti-conservatism
emerges in the fact of Milton’s larger-than-life de-valuing of the church
founders.

<<Textually, how does this
devaluing manifest?>>

Through blank verse. Odd, you say? Well, buckle up, because
it is going to get even odder.

Upon publication of Paradise Lost,
Milton’s contemporaries were shocked. But they were not shocked at Milton’s
content—how Satan is treated as a sort of fallen hero. No, they were shocked at
his verse. For, in the entirety of English poetry up to that point, poetry had rhyme
to it. Paradise Lost’s verse, though, lacks any such notion because Milton,
believing that rhyme was the “invention of a barbarous age, to set off wretched
matter and lame meter” (210), thought ‘English Heroic Meter’ was superior.

Here begins a thread which will occur
all throughout the opening invocation. <<Why does Milton reject rhyme>>

Yes, because he has his own poetic elitism, but also because
he views himself as reclaiming a piece of “ancient liberty”. The history here
matters because, as we will see in the opening invocation, Milton views his
epic poem as something much more than mere writing.

Ultimately, this invocation is Milton preaching the alleged
record of Satan’s fall but without the theological authority of the Church
Founders, those “ancient fathers” in which the Argument refers; when Milton
speaks “Fast by the oracle of God; I thence / Invoke thy aid to my advent’rous
Song” he is superseding the Church Founders and directly saying that God
himself is assisting him with his “song”, i.e., poem. This stance culminates
when he says “I may assert eternal providence, / And justify the ways of God to
men”, thus, Milton sets himself up as the penultimate authority when it comes
to the divine—he alone is extrapolating God’s will, the logical inference being
that he and God, at least when it comes to knowability, are one-in-the-same—that
God is working through him, like a prophet.

We see this belief realized via Milton’s repeated usage of
the word “first”. Not only is it repeated ad
nausea (six times alone in the first three dozen lines), but it is repeated
so in order to force a connection—a brazen one, that Milton’s use of “First”
not only throws the Iambic Pentameter off track—thus creating this uneven
musical score—but forges a connection to Milton being the first to talk about
the fall. Yale professor John Rogers calls this “retrospective anticipation”,
and Milton uses it to startling ends.

Why it’s startling is, of course, because it is a
fiction—Milton could not have been at the Creation, yet he is talking as though
he was there. Why this is, is because
Milton is usurping “that Shepard” (i.e., Moses’s), place, or in the very
minimum, trying to steal some of his thunder: the passage beginning with “And
chiefly Thou O spirit” and runs through “Instruct me, for Thou Know’st” claims
that the Holy Spirit—that which instructed Moses, was present AT the Creation.
Thus, since Milton is writing about the Creation, and claims to be being moved
by this same spirit which was there, he is not only making a bold theological
claim—one with radical connotations for his Monism—but saying that his
authority is on par with that of Moses himself. So, if there is any ‘first’
which is most important in this blank versed invocation, it is undoubtedly this
one.

Well, all of this is an accordingly epic pose for an epic
writer to take. Also, one that is a wee bit heretical, depending on your
theological orientation. In the end, Milton’s open invocation is a case study
in how to be both self-aggrandizing as well as almost divine. If there is anything more transcendentally
over-the-top, then I have not heard of it.

But, that being said, I have only scratched the surface of
what this invocation is about. And because I have waxed eloquently enough on my
own, probably to the point where I am in danger of usurping Satan’s throne, I
should pass the torch to you people, who probably have more interesting things
to say anyways.

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Lately, I was browsing around online and found another handy resource for aspiring medievalists.

Enter, Western Michigan University's Medieval Institute!

The site has links to an extensive book shop, scholarly journals, as well as a free download. See below for links.

General listing: http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/medievalpress/
Index of titles available for purchase: http://www.wmich.edu/medievalpublications/all-titles
The 'Medieval Globe' book(s): http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/medieval_globe/ (Click on title(s) for free download)

Okay, that is all for now. Sometime soon I think that I would like to organize all of my resource links so that I, as well as you, have a concrete listing of reliable resources. Until then, we shall have to make due.